president obama or mitt romney, grassroots religious groups were active on both sides. evangelical voters were divided during the primary season, but in the end, they rallied around romney, despite some concerns about voting for a mormon candidate. still, their support didn't put him over the top. obama narrowly won the catholic vote, thanks to a strong showing among latino catholics. the u.s. catholic bishops waged an active campaign against the obama administration's decision to require employers, including many faith-based employers, to provide free coverage of contraceptive services. the bishops said that would be a violation of religious freedom. the administration tried to offer a compromise, but the bishops, joined by many evangelical groups, said the compromise didn't go far enough. several religious institutions filed legal challenges to the policy. this summer, the bishops organized what they called a "fortnight for freedom" to highlight their concerns. faith-based groups continued to be divided over economic issues. conservative activists supported massive cuts to the federal b

, republican presidential candidate mitt romney. >> this election is over, but our principles endure. >> is romney ran on his impressive business credit l shsh -- credentials, but it was his multiple gaffes that helped seal his fate. remember the 47% comments? >> the 47% who are with him -- >> oh, and this one. >> binders full of women. >> number six, ex-cia director general david petraeus. >> breaking news now. coming in regarding the chief of the cia. general david petraeus. >> general petraeus, request ca talk about this please? >> the news was unexpected, the reason can shoi reason c reason shocking. petraeus, a retired four-star general, quit his post and admitted he cheated on his wife. it was his biography, paula broadwell. it was an exit from the stage by one of the most respected public servants of his time. number five, super jumper felix baumgartner. let's face it, he did what no human has ever done, diving 24 miles from the edge of space, breaking the sound barrier along the way. >> i'm still the same guy, but as soon as you start traveling, people do recognize my face. >> i was

rates, but mostly it was as a way to talk about mitt romney's taxes himself. and we didn't talk about much in this except for mitt romney's character and his bank account and those things. it was a sort of the seinfeld election, the election about nothing. and e president won anyway. he returned to washington, and what we have now is an atmosphere here where people can't think about big stuff, they can't even conceive of the idea of doing big things. gregg: right. >> and it shouldn't be surprising to us now that as we get down to the end and we get to the cliff itself that what everybody's talking about is shrinking the field and just doing something desperate just to patch to get by into the new year. gregg: speaking of small and cynical, let me carry that forward -- [laughter] with the remarks of senator john barrasso who yesterday on fox news sunday said he thinks the president is eager to go over the cliff because he senses victory. the president senses victory at the bottom of the cliff. now, that's a pretty cynical point of view, but i wonder if it's realistic? what do you think

for mitt romney. s there's a lot of question about whether he would get the o challenge from the very popular mayor of newark, at least popular in some circles cory booker. >> what's interesting about this is that cory booker put out a web video which is how all the a politicians announce these days. he said i'm interested in obnning for senate. that job isn't actually open at this point. senator frank lautenberg holds that seat, a long-time democrat. he has not telegraphed what he's going to do. when cory booker put out this statement that he was going to run lautenberg said there's a time for politics.au it's next year. that's when i'll address it. lautenberg is 80 years old. he's in his 80s. he might decide to run.h he could be... decide to keep that challenge afloat there. we could either be talking about a democratic primary or booker is very well known. he's got a strong national presence.el so this is somebody who could clear the field for the democrats but either way it will be competitive. republicans always say that they think he's within their sights.. chris christie p

president obama and governor romney debating whatever right here in our studios we had two very serious candidates talk about very serious issues that were absent elsewhere everywhere they talked about the n.b.a. they talked about drones to talk about the war on drugs and this is something that we put together because not only do we know there was a point but our audience was asking for it we haven't seen it too much of you in the mainstream media do you think tomorrow they will be talking about how you did impact. election oh that would be the pie in the sky is that would impact the election and let me just give you a car knowledge. of the libertarian party. you know the fact is you go from an annoyance to a spoiler to a player we really need to be bringing third parties fourth parties fist parties into that but you're blocking traffic even opposite our personality types so i think. i feel like this is a win for the american people that we have been able to enter into this race to break into the party and offer the solutions that the american people are clamoring for. wealthy british s

, mitt romney will come up a loser in this race. >> jon: the billing media story of the year, the presidential election. that was how it ended. barack obama beating mitt romney and an end to a bitter season that started early with the g.o.p. primaries and events like this. >> we saw some of this black church in south carolina where a woman asked you why you referred a president obama as the food stamp president. it sounds as if you are suitcase to go belittle people. >> first of all, juan, the fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by barack obama than any president in american history. [ cheers and applause ] >> i know among the political kli correct and i'm supposed to you use facts that are uncomfortable. [ laughter ] >> so that was just part of a long and memorable primary season. juan, is that your highlight of the year. [ laughter ] >> my highlight? it is telling again for newt gingrich. he in a subsequent debate when we was asked about extramarital life and enough about these questions and made the media successfully a target of his ire. >> jon: on the republ

. >> mitt romney and his campaign wanted to talk about his victory in the illinois primary but then the debate over this iconic children's toy the etch a sketch threatened to erase all that. >> the private sector is doing fine. the private sector is doing fine. the private sector is doing fine. >> this is not fine by any measure. it is shocking and unacceptable. >> what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that to himself. you're crazy. you're absolutely crazy. >> that is the weirdest thing i have seen at a political convention in my entire life. >> they brought us a whole binders full of women. >> it's the phrase that won't die. you cannot escape it. >> binders full of women. >> binders full of women. >> steve roberts, when you look back at this campaign and the media on balance provide nutritious fair or a lot of empty calories? >> look, you can say that they got distracted by the etch a sketch or by binders full of women -- >> you could say that. i just did. >> but you could also say these candidates are so scripted, they are so focused, they are so predigested that

romney. even though romney went on to win decisive victories and becoming the republican nominee he emerged from the primary battle bruised. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> romney's campaign saw several ups and downs but appearing confident and in command in the first debate, romney threw president obama off the game with the president delivering a shaky performance. >> the first debate sets the tone and can have the most impact but yeah, look, this is a series. >> mr. obama regained the footing by the third and final debate and ultimately won re-election. >> the best is yet to come. >> long serving texas congressman ron paul decided not to seek re-election to focus on white house bid is one of several high profile members of congress that will retire this year. >> government gets bigger, the liberties are diminishing. >> barney frank and burton from the house, jon kyl, kay bailey hutchison, lieberman and nelson join members of the house and senate hanging up the congressional careers. 2012 also marked a milestone in implementation of

president romney had had the opportunity or president paul ryan in a few years gets the opportunity to appoint justices to the supreme court, that could be expanded. the limits of the second amendment are not clear at this point. the supreme court has not really spoken on it. that's one of the reasons why it's so important, who appoints whom to the supreme court. >> at what point is gun violence in america a public health threat, right? you talk about the freedom, the freedoms we have in this country where the public health risk, 30 some thousand people killed every year. cdc says it's $38 billion, the cost of society of gun violence. >> what's so astonishing about the debate of gun violence, it's different from the '90s when i first started covering this issue. you have people arguing very seriously now that the way to stop or limit gun violence is to have more guns. give guns to teachers. give guns to security guards. more guns. that argument was too ridiculous to even be uttered in the '90s. now senators, governors are saying that's the way to protect more people. >> bulletproof bac

. thank you. >>> case of father knows best. former republican nominee mitt romney reluctant to run for president a second time after losing his party nomination in 2008. tag romney tells the boston globe he and his mother ann had to convince romney to make another bid for the white house. he wanted to be president less than anyone i've met in my life. more on that with the panel later. later, consumers love the phrase "made in the usa." but next, the president is in hawaii. and the other major players also left town. but the clock still ticking. on the fiscal cliff. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. campbell's. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico

top stories of the year continues. and later, the most memorable moments from mitt romney's run for the white house for better or for worse. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant >>> welcome back to "morning joe." we want to continue a conversation on the big stories that shaped the past year and there were some others, even though the past recent events of the past week or so seem to overshadow everything. but why don't we start with john heilemann's choice of a certain statement made at a certain fund-raiser. >> well, just before i mention mitt romney's 47% comment, i want to go back to what joe said earlier. the big story of this election is president obama won and won not just in a race that everyone said was going to be razor thin, it would be super close, he ends up winning with 52% of the vote we now know one of only five presidents in history who has won more than 51% in two successful electio

of the year continues. and later, the most memorable moments from mitt romney's run for the white house, for better or for worse. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. there is no mass-produced human. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs - each of your bodies. our sleep professionals will help you find your sleep number setting. exclusively at a sleep number store. comfort individualized. save 50% on the final closeout of our silver limited edition bed plus special financing through new years day. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." we want to continue our conversation on the big stories that shaped the past year. and there were some others, even though the recent events of the past week or so seem to overshadow everything, but why don't we start the john heilemann's choice, of a certain statement that was made at a certain fund-raiser. >> well, before i mention mitt romney's 47% comment, i want to go back

. >> earning his party's nomination was not as easy for the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. even though romney went on to win decisive victories and becoming the republican nominee he emerged from the primary battle bruised. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> romney's campaign saw several ups and downs but appearing confident and in command in the first debate, romney threw president obama off the game with the president delivering a shaky performance. >> the first debate sets the tone and can have the most impact but yeah, look, this is a series. >> mr. obama regained the footing by the third and final debate and ultimately won re-election. >> the best is yet to come. >> long serving texas congressman ron paul decided not to seek re-election to focus on white house bid is one of several high profile members of congress that will retire this year. >> government gets bigger, the liberties are diminishing. >> barney frank and burton from the house, jon kyl, kay bailey hutchison, lieberman and nelson join members of the house and senate h

reliving mitt romney's fumbles. >> the best of the worst. this could be a very long segment for me. >> tom, you're a massachusetts native. are you proud of the way mitt romney did with the binders full of women? >> this binders full of women it's not a real story. this is a twitter trending topic. >> absolutely. >> it was not in the age of twitter, this would not have been a story. would you have written about this? >> it would have been talked about on talk radio. >> here's the problem we are in the age of twitter. >> everyone knows what he was talking about. everyone knew what he was saying. >> he couldn't find any women and needed binders. >> this is the curse of a phrase. >> couldn't find any women, so he needed some binders. >> i hear they sell them in some places. number four. political fumble for 2012. >> does anybody out there think that the big problem we had is that there was too much oversight and regulation of wall street? because if you do, then governor romney is your candidate. but that's not -- what i believe. >> that's just not the facts. when the president ran for office,

you proud of the way mitt romney did with the binders full of women? >> it's not a real story. this is a twitter trending topic. >> absolutely. >> it was not in the age of twitter, this would not have been a story. >> it would have been talked about on talk radio. >> and the romney campaign never knew it. >> he was trying -- but because of it was all about -- >> couldn't find any women, so he needed some binders. >> i hear they sell them in some places. number four. political fumble for 2012. >> does anybody out there think that the big problem we had is that there was too much oversight and regulation of wall street? because if you do, then governor romney is your candidate. but that's not -- what i believe. >> that's just not the facts. when the president ran for office, he said that by this year, he would have brought down the cost of insurance for each family by $2,500 a family. >> let me just finish the point. i suspect it will be -- >> it was an absolutely disgracefully bad performance. i've never seen a president of the united states blather on like that. bore us. tell us non

lot of what happened, including what happened in the election. in the end mitt romney didn't want to pick big fights with barack obama on foreign policy and i think there are lots of people who look at syria and say, "we really should do something about this," and then they say, "but what can we do that will actually improve the situation and not get us inveigled in place and in circumstances that we don't want to be inveigled in?" i do think it's very troubling looking forward that we may be losing the opportunity to have a two state solution between israel and the palestinians. i think time really is running out on that and i think there is a lot of frustration in the administration over what can they actually do? and whether or not we can argue about what they did in the past, you know, i think a lot of people would like to do something but don't see what the promising path is right now. >> and there are lot of troops in afghanistan who perhaps would like to come home and a lot of people here who would like them to come up, but that seems to be somethingfor the ye beyond, 2014. i'

, presidential candidate mitt romney. >> this election is over, but our principles endure. >> romney ran on his business credentials but it was his multiple gaffes during the campaign that analysts said sealed his fate. remember the 47% comments -- >> 47s we% who were with him. >> and this one. >> binders full of women. >> number 6, ex-cia director general david petraeus. >> breaking news regarding the chief of the cia. general david petraeus. >> can you talk with us please? >> the news was unexpected. the reason, shocking. petraeus, a retired four-star general, had quit his cia post and admitted he had cheated on his wife. petraeus's mistress was also his biographer, paula broadwell. >> and don't touch that remote. there's more. we're going to show you who you picked as the top five most intriguing people of 2012. that's coming up next right after the break. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady,

sounding defeating mitt romney 71-27 among those voters. this is less conservatives searching for a way forward on immigration. some folks in the party are suggesting finding inspiration from former president george w. bush who recently weighed in on the debate. america is a nation of immigrants. immigrants have helped build the country that we have become and immigrants help build a dynamic tomorrow. can be a lawful society and welcoming society at the same time. i hope we do so with a ben benevolent spirit. >> is bush the face wants to embrace for the party's future. former political director for former h.w. bush and joining us from san diego murdock a fox news contributor. great to see both of you. let's start with you here. is this the way forward for the republican party now? the republicans took a beating. they got wailed on. the messaging was romney didn't do enough to court hispanic voters. is it really illegal immigration the problem or larger problem. >> larger problem. a report came out that looked at four battleground states. we didn't get all the conservative hispanics.

as a person. one of the most fascinating is that we came across was, romney had a mormon documentarian follow him around in the campaign. he was a friend of one of the romney sons. he had great access. he made a documentary about from the -- romney. in 2010, he showed it to the family, they love it. the staff said, we are not going to show this to the republic -- to the public. they thought it showed too much of him talking about made a docm his mormon faith in a way that they feared could turn off the public, which has some misconceptions about that faith. to me, that captured the attention in the romney campaign. the staff never wanted to talk about the candidate. they wanted to make it about obama and his handling of the economy. ultimately, that a lot obama and his campaign to define mitt romney and his campaign. host: and yet, he did talk about his mormon faith at the convention. other members that spoke about mitt romney, but that only happened at the convention. it did not happen in 30-second spots. did not move much beyond that. guest: the obama campaign did not u

most watched youtube video of all time. number seven, republican presidential candidate mitt romney. >> this election is over. but our principles endure. >> romney ran on his impressive business credentials but it was his multiple gaffes during the campaign that analysts say helped seal his fate. remember the 47% comments. >> 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government. >> and this one -- >> binders full of women. >> number six, ex-cia director general david petraeus. >> breaking news now coming in regarding the chief of the cia, general david petraeus. >> general petraeus, can you talk with us, please? >> the news was unexpected. the reason, shocking. petraeus, a retired four-star general, had quit his cia post and admitted he had cheated on his wife. petraeus' mistress was also his biographer, paula broadwell, an embarrassing exit from the public stage by one of the most respected public servants of his time. >> number five, super jumper felix bum gartner. let's face it, he did what no human has ever done, diving 24 miles from the edge of space, breaking the sound barr

an impact? >> it has. you know, certainly the equities were discounting a romney victory back in november. got hit pretty hard afterwards. now the stocks are back to where it was prior to the election. in my view, there's not much more major harm that the epa and other regulation can do to the coal industry. but certainly as the economy dictates demand, electricity generation and more confidence, that will be more important than say the epa. the epa has done their damage for the most part. you can never say never but i think most of the negative news is behind coal for the epa. ashley: what companies do you like in particular? >> we talked about the thermal coal for electricity generation and metallurgical coal for steel. on the latter we look at alpha natural resources which is the largest exporter of metallurgical coal out of the united states, mass the most export capacity. on the thermal side the two names to be looking at -- ashley: you like these prices? >> yeah, they have come down quite a bit and we do anticipate a recovery in pricing over the next 12, 18 months for the c

-mailing each other about barack obama and mitt romney, and you were tearing me off a new one, i believe is the american phrase, for what you perceive to be my lack of support for the president. >> that's right. >> i was more interested in the debate. it was a good one actually. i found it very informative. >> i kept sending you articles. >> you did. and your man won. >> your man didn't? >> no, i don't have a horse in the race. i'm british. i can't vote. my argument to you is i wondered whether mitt romney could be better for the american economy, given his background. >> god, no. do you know why? >> you were having none of it. >> do you know why? there have been businessmen who have turned presidents. herbert hoover, george bush, the first george bush. businessmen, i think shall there were a couple of others. lousy presidents. businessmen make lousy presidents. >> why have you been so consistent in your support of obama? is >> i can't even imagine thinking about what would happen to the supreme court if a republican were the president. i mean, citizens united is a horrible thing

, republican presidential candidate mitt romney. >> this election is over, but our principles endure. >> romney ran on his impressive business credentials, but it was his multiple gaffes during the campaign that analysts say helped to seal his feat. remember the 47% comments. >> the 47% are dependent on it. >> and this one. >> binders full of women. >> number six, ex-cia director general david petraeus. >> we have breaking news now coming in regarding the chief of the cia. general david petraeus. >> general petraeus, can you talk with us please? >> the news was unexpected. the reason shocking. petraeus, a retired four-star general had quit his cia post and admitted he had cheated on his wife. petraeus's mistress was also his biographer, paula broadwell. an embarrassing exit from the stage. >> impressive list. that is just half of them. the most intreiguing people of 2012. the top five are revealed after the break. bye dad. drive safe. k. love you. [ chirping, buzzing continues ] [ horn honks ] [ buzzing continues ] [ male announcer ] the sprint drive first app. blocks and replies to

did first lady michelle obama for romney, that was a tough week, with clint eastwood and the chair, and that dominated the headlines. so it looked like the president had -- that was because, of course, before he ran into some turbulence. >> talk about that debate. those on the left were very surprised, those on the right also. >> absolutely. this was a key moment in the campaign where it lookedly maybe romney would be able to come back. obama's campaign team always thought this moment was exaggerated. the president's team always thought that was overblown, but certainly this was a big moment in the campaign. the president felt very down afterwards as glen and jonathan martin report in their new e-book what a tough period that was for the president. he had to find win himself and come back. >> so raching, finish it off, bring it to today. there's the fiscal cliff. got to be the most recent of the big points in politics for 2012. >> absolutely. that shows just how fleeting a victory is in this town. president obama won a stronger than predicted victory. he basically got every state t

coming. some post-election comments from inside mitt romney's family, the comments raising a lot of political eyebrows. his son gave an interview to "the boston globe," the newspaper, and unexpected is definitely the word. we'll get into that coming up in just a second. >>> also coming up, the controversial call on "wheel of fortune" that has viewers and a contestant expressing outrage. hear what happened during a final round of the game show that led to disappointment, to say the least. it all has to do with how you pronounce a word. >> being punished for her southern accent. i don't like that. i think she has a legit case. we'll get to that. >>> coming up later, the hollywood heartbreak story that won't reach its final chapter. demi moore's latest divorce demand from ashton kutcher. quite an eye opener. details on that and much more celebrity goodness coming up. stay tuned for that. >>> but first, hundreds of people held a candle light vigil on new york's brooklyn bridge in honor of those who died in the connecticut school shooting. >> the names of the victims were read aloud at t

the works and the election hangover. new comments from one of mitt romney's sons that you might describe as puzzling. what do they really mean? and the gun battle rages on. new reports on why nothing may get done even after the sandy hook tragedy. >>> a massive tax hike and spending cuts -- republicans and democrats continue to point fingers in opposite directions, hinting that talks could go into the new year. >> are we going over the cliff? >> i believe we are, and i think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. he senses a victory at the bottom of the cliff. >> we only have nine days left here. when are we going to get serious about actual solutions? i would welcome john to tell me. he says he wants a solution. give us one, john. >> meanwhile, president obama is spending christmas in hawaii where he and the first lady attended the holiday memorial service for the late u.s. senator from daniel inouye. >> white house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, obviously they always say the white house travels with the president wherever he is. that's wher

line. good morning. caller: the bartender that took the videotape of mr. romney talking about the 47%. he showed an insight into the candidate. host: why is he a hero? caller: he had the courage to share with others. host: anybody else in congress or in texas? caller: i thought that mr. paul was a class act. host: that was tom from texas. tell us about your political hero. e-mail and twitter. give us a call, 202-585-3881 for republicans. 202-585-3880 for democrats. they all start with 202 area codes. a lot of comments on facebook and twitter. this comes from twitter. host: she only has 140 characters. wendy from oakland, new jersey. go ahead. caller: hi. i believe the political hero should be hillary clinton. host: why is that? caller: she has kept peace around the world. she has been able to focus on the problems here in america while she is done a tremendous job overseas. host: what would you like to see out of there? caller: become the next president of united states. i think it is a strong possibility. you mentioned travel and keeping people safe. any specific accomplishment that

verge of gun control, first, nut gingrich things he can do a couple things better that amitt romney. and that means running for president. my waist was on. but since i've been on alli, am i on this one? nope. am i on this one? no, no, no, no, no. i am on this one. [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. belt-friendly. let's fight fat with alli. have a healthier holiday at letsfightholidayfat.com. when you give a child a toy, it has to work. ♪ make just one someone happy and when it's a toys for tots child, well, what could be more important? so this year, every hasbro toy donated to toys for tots will be powered by duracell. happy holidays. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. >> let's take a visit to the political playground, newt gingrich blames the republican party for fostering a corrosive culture that pushed romney as a candidate. he said that he and rick perry would done better running against obama. a new station finds that senator scott brown is i

had discussion of this during the campaign. would have been nice if we had mitt romney give a speech in december mitt romney would have been at this point. if he didn't get elected was going to go down this way. you hardly heard anything about the fiscal cliff during the campaign it was a great point for republicans. >> bold fresh leadership just like o'reilly factor bold and fresh. we need to hear that during the election. i hope people. >> laura: that would have been nice. >> congress doing the right thing would be good. >> laura: chris and dee dee thanks so much. plenty more ahead as the factor moves along tonight. fair and balanced reaction. plus obama nominates senator john kerry for secretary of state. but only after losing out on his first choice. was this a smart pick? and later the nra excoriates the media for their coverage of the connecticut school shooting. you do not want to miss this. stay tuned for these reports. nom i was having trouble getting out of bed in the morning because my back hurt so bad. the sleep number bed conforms to you. i wake up in the morning with no

romney give a speech in december mitt romney would have been at this point. if he didn't get elected was going to go down this way. you hardly heard anything about the fiscal cliff during the campaign it was a great point for republicans. >> bold fresh leadership just like o'reilly factor bold and fresh. we need to hear that during the election. i hope people. >> laura: that would have been nice. >> congress doing the right thing would be good. >> laura: chris and dee dee thanks so much. plenty more ahead as the factor moves along tonight. fair and balanced reaction. plus obama nominates senator john kerry for secretary of state. but only after losing out on his first choice. was this a smart pick? and later the nra excoriates the media for their coverage of the connecticut school shooting. you do not want to miss this. stay tuned for these reports. no, has ever turned down a handmade ornament. that's why we sat up santa's wonderland at bass pro shops. kids can get their free picture with santa, and this week make a... all for free. ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole.

overwhelmingly for obama. if you look at regional politics, white women overwhelmingly voted for mitt romney. white women in the south were the ones voting for mitt romney. white women in the northeast were voting for obama. that's actually why -- so there is absolutely, a racial -- a nonracialized yesterday logical divide among why this. i think that's -- we always focus on what's going on idealogically with people of color. what about white people? >> this is the key thing. when you start slicing and dicing the data and look at exit polling data and we have the categories that are fixed in hour head to look for, african-american and white and we find the divisions, nothing ever jumps out at me more than the regional difference. when you break the country up into regions you have one yooisht lier. the south. the south has different politics than the rest of the country and i think eye guys would agree with that. >> the south is culturally conservative i would argue. and i think that that's what makes georgia a difficult state for democrats regardless of race. and i think it's also what prov

election. on november 6th president obama beat republican rival mitt romney to win a second term. what other stories topped the list and what do they tell us about the world we live in today. john fund is a columnist for "national review magazine" he joins us to weigh in on this. john, good to see you. merry christmas to you. >> thank you. kelly: we hope you're doing well. we know the top story was the election, it was a bitter fight to the end, president obama winning re-election. what does it tell us, though, about the campaign of mitt romney, and the mood of the country then, because we had so many other big stories affect the outcome of the election. >> well, this election, i think, was a very curious one, because president obama made some history. normal lee an incumbent with an economy that weak and no particular prospects of it getting better wouldn't have won re-election. but president obama was able to take advantage of i think dramatic stumbles on the part of mitt romney, the 47% line and various other things, absolutely. kelly: does it surprise you that mitt romney's p

door in a couple sentences. two words from mitt romney during the primary reverberated through november. the issue was his plan to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers. >> people who have come here illegally won't be able to find work and those people would tend to leave the country. >> the option was not by itself responsible for romney's dismal showing among hispanics, but it surely greased the skids. also among the categories where romney wanted a mulligan, there was this. romney called his remarks completely wrong. they also caused the deepest self-inflicted wound of the election. on the flip side -- >> he's going to be the next vice president of the united states. >> romney's dp day may have been the best moment of his campaign. the selection of paul ryan excited conservatives in a way romney himself had not. how many moems are there in an hour and a half? the president lost all of them in the first debate. the picture tells the story of a panicked man and providing an opening for romney. and finally, the top three moments of the election best described as hi

that big money eventually cleared the field and romney set his sights on the president. >> it's still about the economy. and we're not stupid. >> reporter: at number nine, bang. >> your punishment must be more severe. >> reporter: not that one, that one. almost as soon as mitt romney locked up the nomination, bane capital was savaged by democratic superpacs and the obama campaign. >> like a vampire. sucking the life out of us. >> reporter: the attack ads put romney on defense for months. >> there's nothing wrong with being associated with bane capital for months. >> reporter: the president also got a lift from the supreme court which at number eight upheld his embattled health care law, so romney vowed to strike it down himself. >> i'm that one that's going to get rid of obama care. >> reporter: number seven, gas. >> governor romney, do you feel your gaffes have overshadowed your trip? >> reporter: his missteps often dominated the news cycle. >> the private sector is doing fine. >> reporter: or in romney's campaign, his entire foreign trip. ub at six, the conventions were remembered l

. >> i was the perfect candidate for america. >> what if mitt romney isn't the best person? >> the idea that somehow making a business profitable is different than helping people. >> it's ridiculous for people to purchase a gun. >> did you get up this morning and have a quick -- >> i probably did, i probably did. >> "piers morgan tonight: the newsmakers" starts now. >>> good evening. one of the great things about my job is that every night i get to sit down with movers and shakers, the men and women at the center of the biggest stories of the year. what do they have in common? they're all utterly fascinating. tonight you'll hear from some of my favorite guests. we'll begin with the big man himself, governor chris christie. he found himself in a bit of hot water for making nice with president obama in the wake of hurricane sandy. >> 2.8 million people without power. i've watched these extraordinary scenes over new jersey today, really quite unprecedented. i've never seen anything quite like it. have you ever seen anything like this in your lifetime? >> no, i haven't. you know, you see si

young voters. so turnout was a big point in that regard. and lastly, the romney campaign, which was supposed to revolutionize the way politics were done, and the enormous amount of money he was able to raise and he was running for president for all intents and purposes for five years, and on election night it was one tremendous letdown for the governor and all of his supporters, so for me the election was the big highlight of 2012. i am not sure we will see anything like it anytime soon. >> danny, we'll turn to you. >> i will say what struck me this year was there were so many incredible examples where we were grabbed by the ears as a public and shook, and there were times that we need to come together and put politics aside and find ways to come together as a people to find solutions, so whether it was the shooting in connecticut where we lost 20 of our most precious innocent angels or the election itself where it hinged on independents and moderates at the end of the day, or the economy with the fiscal cliff issue, and it needs to be a fast middle to come together and find solutio

happening at all. >> that's their talking point. >> are you any more optimistic? governor romney is supposed to the president being reenacted that their son joe waiting for him after he gets into office? >> now, i'm not. i wrote a story for "the new york times" magazine on governor romney and specifically his time as governor day. about three weeks ago or so. the basic piece concludes is i interviewed a number of people and particularly the more conservative house republicans are their chops. they believe this to be a great moment if mitt romney wins. a moment for them to legislate very aggressively conservative agenda. my question to several ways but what if that not so? would've governor bob, president elect romney decides it's not how he wishes to govern wallcovering and the motive is first 22 years when he was governor of massachusetts. they uniformly said they be disappointed and one of the stars at the tea party freshman class he's teaching them about says it will be an insurrection. people seemed generally boisterous. you say nothing at. the president promised us not behave l

with the. >> are you optimistic to say that governor romney would have one that there is and you waiting for him after he gets into office? >> no, no i'm not and i wrote a story for "the new york times magazine" on governor romney and specifically on his kind of governor that appeared three weeks ago or so. the way that the piece concludes is by, i interviewed a number of people and particularly the more conservative republicans and they were licking their chops and said this would be a great moment for them if mitt romney wins. a moment for them to legislate very aggressively a conservative agenda and my question to several of them was, what if that's not so? what it president-elect romney decides that he will govern more in the mode of his first two years when he was governor of massachusetts? they uniformly said they'd be disappointed and in fact labrador one of the stars of the tea party featured in my book said there would be an insurrection. people say we have been really boisterous. you have seen nothing yet. if president romney behaves like a conservative it's going to be

the planet? >> i was at the romney headquarters election night and when they learned he wasn't going to be president of the united states, he looked sad. he looked like somebody that really wanted this and it was not going to be. so just seeing the reaction and everything that went to it. and tag said that ann tried to convince him of this, too. >> you have to wonder, did he really not -- he could have made choices and said i'm not going to do it. but you have to wonder did he not want to do it or is this kind of, you know, post election -- like i didn't want it any way. i'm brushing it off. i don't know how to interpret that, but interesting article in "the globe." >>> in other news today, a veteran idaho lawmaker is apologizing after being arrested for dui in washington. virginia police say republican mike crepo had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit. >>> former president george h.w. bush may be spending christmas in the hospital. doctors say he's in stable condition but needs to build up his energy. >>> christmas prayers are going out to nelson mandela. south africans are